OSR: Burrowwurm

Enter the Burrowwurm

Materializes in the guts of an innocent individual who gets their first sin by killing another innocent without motif or benefit. The sinner has to feed on eggs for a full moon after the killing. Hence Burrowwurms can proliferate within the members of upper layers of society (noble children, and other families that can afford all those pricey eggs). Or in times of war. Or in a family of chicken farmers. The Burrowwurm comes to existence, just like that.

Diminutive at first, the wurm keeps crawling and growing within the host's guts, insatiable. Contrary to belief, Burrowwurms are not necessarily creatures of evil. Too dim-witted, they are however germinated from the purest evil. It's their gestation puddle, not their essence.

A kid that starts inexplicably drinking gallons of milk, and eating like a pig is a huge sign of a latent Burrowwurm inside them. It has to be dealt hastily, and with efficiency. Arduous task, if the kid is to remain alive after the cleansing.

Sunlight kills the Burrowwurm. Milk attracts it. This is obscure and bizarre knowledge, appropriate for a sage or long-forgotten tome. That is why past a certain size threshold they dwell underneath the surface, creating tunnels and passages without rest. The surface area will experience increasing intermittent mild earthquakes.

(Un)justified Devotion

Molekin, roachlings, slugfolk, and earth & mud elementals all could suffer from the delusion of taking the Burrowwurm for a minor deity. Or an envoy of one at the very least. At the Deftowurm size, who could blame blem? In a sense, they are right in their devotion of absurd power.

For instance, molekin are creatures of sheer law and obedience. Taking the most despicable and unwanted jobs in a society: sewer maintenance, dung collecting, corpse collector. You name it. Scattered in local colonies, they have an inclination to worshiping worms and maggots, recognizing the resemblance with the molekin lifestyle. And a Burrowwurm will be a magnet to the buggers, if they ever have the honor to come across one. Despicable, yet mighty. Shrines will be opened, prayers chanted. Out of an inner instinct, almost unconsciously. Sadly, the buggers end up as more fodder for the wurm.

Andrea Chiampo

Burrowwurm Stages

• Hatchling (1-2 HD): still inside the host's guts. Lure it by hanging the victim upside down, and putting a bucket of fresh milk inches away from their open mouth. It may take minutes, but the Burrowwurm should bait. Snake-sized, and as thick as a pinky, it's a matter of pulling it out. Painful process for the host, but they'll survive.
• Grubewurm (3-6 HD): size between a dog and a small pony. Host gets killed in a brutal manner, their bulging stomach missing adequate space.
• Minewurm (7-10 HD): size of a stallion up to a small elephant. Territorial, creates complexes of tunnels in search of underground calories.
  
• Deftowurm (11-19 HD): size of a whale, and then some. Causes local earthquakes.
  
• Postmortem (20 HD): a chrysalis, with uncertain outcome. A town-sized butterfly? Prodigious intelligence and telepathy. Maybe those molekin weren't wrong all along...?

A Deftowurm finds some tasty adventurers

Burrowwurm HD: 1-20 HD (see "Insatiable Growth" in Special). Omen: varies on size. A corpse with their abdomen area exploded. Shaking ground. Appearance: a wrinkled worm with sucking teeth-filled maws Number Appearing: solo Wants: food, milk Armour: as chain. Movement: Normal. Burrow through flesh and soil as Normal. After 11+HD, also stone and metal. Morale: 10 (assuming 12 will never give up combat) Saves: as fighter Attacks: 2 attacks, as polearm Special:  Insatiable Growth: Eat, burrow, destroy, annihilate. Size, growth, and Burrowwurm are synonyms. At the start of every week, roll a d20. If the number rolled is higher than the Burrowwurm's current HD, it gains 1 HD. If the Burrowwurm was damaged in that time, roll 2d20 and choose the highest value. Sunlight Aversion: slowly dies when in contact with sunlight. 1HD permanently lost per exposed minute. HD lost this way get regained when out of the light at a rate of 1HD per hour Regurgitated Gravel: (requires 7+ HD) 3 times/day the wurm can puke gravel and rocks. As lightning bolt, but force damage. Swallow Whole: (requires 7+ HD) replaces one of their attacks. Can target a single creature to save or be swallowed whole, causing death in one turn. Tunneling: (requires 11+ HD) Burrowwurms of a certain size can burrow through earth, soil, rock and metal. This creates a shifting lair, as tunnels are created and collapse with the wurm's passing.